


The Bagel Investigators: Pastry Origins

by MrJoCrafter



Series: The Bagel Investigators [1]
Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Constructed Language, Fantasy, Gen, Mystery, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:34:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 10,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27135985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrJoCrafter/pseuds/MrJoCrafter
Summary: Jo, Olivia, Zach, and Ace are normal students at their high school when an act of vandalism turns everything upside down. The mysterious entity known as “The Bagel” is terrorising the school, and the school is dumbfounded. Our heroes take matters into their own hands and create “The Bagel Investigators.” But can they succeed when every powerful enemy is pulling strings in the background?
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: The Bagel Investigators [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980733
Kudos: 1





	1. Relative Normalcy

Jo was playing a top-down battle game with his friends Olivia, Zach, and Kera in the dimly-lit computer lab on small, old computers.

Jo was a freshman at David Burnet High School. He wore large purple glasses and had shockingly purple hair.

Olivia was a sophomore and in a lot of honors classes. She had light brown, almost red hair and was wearing a jacksfilms t-shirt.

Zach was also a freshman. He wore orange contact lenses and wore a red hoodie. He was intently focused on the enemy he was fighting in the game.

Kera was a junior. She was dating a track star, and all the boys wanted her.

“Come on, come on!” Zach exclaimed.

“No, no, no, darn it!” Kera yelled.

“Okay, you are the undisputed master of this game,” Jo said.

“You know it! Get destroyed!” Olivia exclaimed in victory. At this moment, the intercom let out a loud beep. “What is it this time?” Olivia said, annoyed.

The beep dragged on for multiple seconds. Several students groaned.

“Attention all students,” the voice on the intercom said, “You are directed to report to the gym. I repeat you are directed to report to the gym." A second beep signaled the end of the message.

The students in the computer lab reluctantly began to shuffle out. “This sucks!” said another student.

As the students entered the gym, they sat down to see whatever the principal had called them there for. “I bet someone stole some money from the school,” Zach suggested.

“I bet someone hacked the school website!” Olivia cut in.

“No, no, they’re doing a presentation of some asinine new fundraising thing.” Jo said.

“Why wouldn’t there be a warning then?” Zach quipped.

“Let’s just wait and see,” Kera said, annoyed.

“Hello everybody!” the principal said as he came on stage. “I bet all of you are wondering why I called you here today. We are here to learn, and not to graffiti all over the walls!”

“I knew it!” Jo said.

“No you didn’t!” Zach responded loudly. Everyone shushed him.

“Someone decided it was a good idea to make this drawing with spray paint on a school wall!” The principal continued, and then clicked a button on the projector controller. The projector then displayed a picture of a school wall, with blue paint picturing a bagel, and the words ‘THE BAGEL STRIKES! WATCH YOUR BACK!’ “If anyone has any information to the identity of this ‘Bagel’, you are encouraged to come forward with all the info you have. Remember, graffiti is illegal and can get you seriously fined or sent to jail. Assembly dismissed, go back to class!” the principal concluded, as the students shuffled out.

“That was weird.” Jo quietly thought out loud.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Who would spray paint the wall with something like that?” Olivia asked Jo.   


“I don’t know, but I’m sure that the school will get to the bottom of it,” Jo replied.   


“Are you actually sure?”

“Well, I haven’t had much experience with these school authorities, but if they are any better than those at our middle school, I’d say they will get it solved in no time.”   


“What the heck!?”    


“What is it?”   
  
“Look at this!” Olivia responded. There was a bagel drawn with blue spray paint on the bathroom door. It looked exactly like the one in the picture at the assembly. Next to it, said “Aeyafos vesyais daeuiof!”

“What… does it say..?” Olivia said.

“I don’t know..”

“Go get someone!”   


“Alright, stay right here!” Jo said as he ran down the stairs.

____________________________________________________________________________

In the dark room, The Bagel was talking to another masked figure. “Is it done?” The Bagel said impatiently. 

“Yes, my master. I have finished spray painting the last few walls you did not get to." 

“Good. Very good. They will be confused and have no idea what hit them," The Bagel said with an evil chuckle. “After that, we shall begin phase two," At that moment, someone opened the door. It was a girl with blond hair and a small knife in her hand. “Ah, yes,” The Bagel said upon her arrival.

“Is she one of the targets, master?” the girl said.

“In time, in time," The Bagel said. “You will get him."


	2. Failed Efforts

Jo, Zach, Olivia, and another one of their friends named Ace were at lunch.

“So how do you think that guy escaped? The paint looked pretty fresh and no one ever came out of the bathroom, how did he not get noticed LEAVING on the security camera?” Olivia asked.

“Maybe he blinded the camera somehow," Ace suggested.

“Well, we know the camera was working when we saw the graffiti. The paint was fresh, and no one was IN the bathroom when the teacher checked. Therefore, he spray-painted the door, went in, and left through somewhere OTHER than the door," Jo reasoned.

“Maybe… he flushed HIMSELF down the TOILET!” Zach said.

“That’s stupid, he couldn’t possibly-” Jo started, but was interrupted by a teacher walking past.

“Are you two the ones who saw the fourth graffiti? Come with me,” he said.

_ “What do you mean, FOURTH?”  _ Jo thought to himself.

____________________________________________________________________________

The teacher brought Jo and Olivia to a place behind the building. The first graffiti that was displayed on the projector could be seen.

“So, what can you tell me about the graffiti you saw?” the teacher said.

“Well, the paint looked fresh, and the air smelled like spray paint,” Olivia said.

“The security camera didn't have paint on it, and he couldn't have left the bathroom or the security camera would have caught him!” Jo added.

“Speaking of the security camera, there was a gap in the security footage. Before the gap, no graffiti. After the gap, the graffiti was there. And the gap was about 60 seconds!” the teacher said, sounding noticeably frustrated.

“I have no idea what the words meant..” Olivia thought out loud.

“That sounds like some creepypasta-level stuff,” Jo said.

The teacher scoffed. “Yes, yes, I agree. This threatening language in the first graffiti sounds like he’s going to harm someone. Be careful. You two can go,"

____________________________________________________________________________

As The Bagel scoffed over his work, the blond-haired girl came in once more. As she came in, he did not turn around, but still noticed her. 

“You’re late," he said, with toxic sarcasm in his voice.

“I had to climb through the air vents to not get caught by the school security. But I did place them on each wall,"

“Good. Once my team has the school under its grasp, I will give you what you ask," The Bagel said evilly.

“I think a certain couple of students are quite nosy, though,” she said. The Bagel scoffed.

“No worries, I can move without a trace. I will have that dealt with."

____________________________________________________________________________

“This whole thing is crazy,” Zach said to Ace. Jo and Olivia came back at that point.

“What did that teacher want?” Ace inquired after them.

“He just wanted to know what we saw in that hallway,” Olivia said, sighing.

“Well, I for one think…” Ace started to say, but at this moment the fire alarm blared across the school. The four friends yelled in pain along with everyone slowly began shuffling out of the building.

“Not this stuff again!” a student said.

“Shut up, Bob!” another replied.

____________________________________________________________________________

Everyone was accounted for, which took about the rest of the lunch period. The school day ended uneventfully after that. Jo, Olivia, and Zach were talking after school.

“I mean, how could you be so stupid to trigger the fire alarm like that? It wouldn't accomplish anything," Zach said.

“It does seem weird why they would flip the fire alarm. It wouldn’t do anything unless…” Olivia said.

“Unless they wanted to steal something!” Jo exclaimed.

“That would make sense…” Zach said.

“We have to do something about this,” Olivia said.

“What could we do? The school doesn’t seem to care!” Jo said. 

“Maybe we should make a club, and invite some other people,” Zach said.

“And we should investigate The Bagel’s activities and try to find out who he is!” finished Jo.

“So that’s it huh, we some kind of Bagel Investigators," Olivia joked.

“That’s like, not even funny,” Zach said.

“Let’s go tell Ace, shall we?” Jo said.

“Yeah, let’s do it,” Olivia said.

“Three!” Jo said.

“Two!” Zach continued.

“One!” Olivia yelled.

“BAGEL INVESTIGATORS!” Jo yelled, drawing attention.

“SHHHH!” Olivia shushed.


	3. The Bagel Investigators

“So we're making a detective club to deal with this Bagel person," Ace said.

“I know it sounds stupid, but…” Jo started to say.

“No, it sounds great, let’s do it," Ace continued. “Go Bagel Investigators!”

“So I did some research,” Zach said, “and I found 20 people, based on schedules and stuff, that could be the Bagel."

“Great, so we have to interrogate 20 people,” Jo said.

“Not quite. I’ve already talked to two, and five were accounted for at the time of the fourth spray painting," Zach said, “I’m going to divide up work between the four of us. Jo, I’ll give you these four people, I’ll take four, Olivia can take three and Ace will take two."

“Hold on, why do I get two?” Ace asked.

“Because we need you to go around and take pictures of the graffiti and any other evidence of the Bagel’s activities,” Olivia said.

“Meeting adjourned," Zach said.

___________________________________________________________________________

Jo’s four suspects happened to be in the classes he was in or nearby.

The first one, John, seemed hostile but gave okay answers. The next one was Bob, who was also in the same class. He seemed happy to answer questions, and gave okay answers. Then, Jo went to his next class and talked to AZ. He seemed mad that Jo was accusing him and gave him a long list of reasons why he wasn’t. The last one he talked to was a girl named Lacy.

“Well, what is it to you, shouldn’t the principal be talking about this with me?” Lacy said.

“Well, I’m trying to find out who the Bagel is!” Jo said, impatiently.

“I’m far too smart to be going around and painting walls like that!” Lacy said, noticeably angry.

At that moment, Ace was coming down the hall to give his information to Jo. Lacy ran with incredible speed over to the restroom.

“Get back here!” Jo said.

“No!” Lacy yelled while entering the restroom.

“Get back..!” Jo started, but Ace was already next to him.

“What was that all about?” said Ace as he came over.

“This girl really didn’t want to answer my questions and got mad. But I’m pretty sure she isn’t the Bagel. “

“Really?”

“Yes. I’m sure. I’ll take my results over to the cafeteria. Do you have all of the interviews and pictures?”

“I do, actually. Let’s go," Ace said, still slightly confused by the girl’s sudden flight.

___________________________________________________________________________

Zach and Olivia were already there when Ace and Jo arrived.

“What’s the report, investigators?” Olivia asked sarcastically.

“Well, we got all of our interviews,” Jo said.

“I made an anonymous tip page so people can give us crucial information of eyewitness accounts instead of having to play telephone all the time,” Olivia explained.

“Yeah, and I got all the pictures," Ace sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Olivia said.

“It’s just, that girl Jo was interviewing…” Ace started.

“She was mad at me, and then ran away as soon as Ace appeared,” Jo finished.

“Well, maybe she thought you were going to interview her too?” Zach asked.

“She might be the Bagel!” Olivia said.

“I doubt it, she would have to be a ninja or something,” Jo said.

“True, but she could have help," Olivia rebutted.

“Have we not considered that the Bagel might be multiple people or one person with other help?” Zach said. “Anyway, of the four I interviewed, one is a possible suspect. What about y’all?”

“Two,” Jo said.

“I also have two,” Olivia said.

“I don’t know, all of mine look pretty fine," Ace said.

“Zach, when is our next meeting?” Jo asked.

“Tomorrow, unless one of us gets busted," Zach answered with a hint of sarcasm.

“That won’t happen.” Jo said confidently.

___________________________________________________________________________

The Bagel sat impatiently waiting for a report on the screen. The message he was waiting for soon came. 

“You’re not on time, Lacy," The Bagel said.

“I’m sorry, my master, I ran into someone who was asking too many questions and then  _ he _ showed up,” she responded.

“What is your report?” The Bagel pressed on.

“I got all of the supplies you requested. I don’t see why we need some of this stuff," Lacy quipped.

“DO NOT QUESTION MY MOTIVES!” The Bagel yelled.

“Yes, sir,” she said with toxic sarcasm. “What will you have me get next?”

“Check out these ‘Bagel Investigators’ people. We wouldn’t want them actually  _ finding _ anything," The Bagel said, as if unimpressed.

“Yes, my master," Lacy said as she cut off the connection.

___________________________________________________________________________

Jo was walking to the next class of the day when something caught his eye. The classroom on his right was full of people, but they were all unconscious. He moved in, tried to shake the teacher, then a couple of students, and then he saw something. The air vent was open and a greenish gas was seeping from it. He didn’t know what this was until he suddenly started to feel drowsy and realized The Bagel had put a tank full of sleeping gas in the air vent. He moved over to the door, but it was too late. He already had too much in his system and he keeled over and passed out. The last thing he heard, but didn’t really fully process, was a young girl’s evil laugh.

“Go to sleep, losers!” she said quietly.


	4. The Bagel Invades

“That’s ridiculous, how would someone do that?” Olivia said to Ace.

“That’s what I said too!” Ace agreed.

“Well, the science department did get robbed. It’s possible they had sleeping gas somewhere,” Zach said.

“Well haven’t they reviewed the cam footage from that time?” Olivia asked.

“The same thing happened as the fourth graffiti wall, there was a weird gap in the camera footage,” Zach said.

“So at this point, the Bagel has an engineer, a scientist, a hacker and a ninja? That’s a bit insane," Ace joked.

“But we don’t even know if The Bagel is one person or six at this point,” Zach said, sighing.

“Well, I’ll go see if Jo is fine," Olivia said.

___________________________________________________________________________

“I’m impressed. I didn’t believe you could split up that asinine quartet," The Bagel sarcastically commented. Lacy had just arrived in the base as he said this. She took off her gas mask and spoke.

“That was just pure luck. I meant just to disturb normal flow so I could steal things and make more graffiti,” she said.

“Well, I sure am glad you chose that class," the Bagel said. “I have a new mission for you."

“What is it, my master?” Lacy said sarcastically.

___________________________________________________________________________

Jo woke up in the nurse’s office after most of the others had woken up.

“You’re finally awake, you bean!” Olivia joked.

“Hi, what the hell happened over there?!” Jo exclaimed.

“The Bagel put sleeping gas in that room!” she said.

“Well that much is obvious, but why that room at that time?” Jo asked. “I mean, there weren’t any chemicals that could be useful, it was just an English class. Unless he wanted a million pieces of paper, why would he hit that room?”

“I don’t really know, maybe he just wanted to cause chaos,” Olivia suggested.

“That’s probably why, but what would that accomplish?” Jo said.

“I’m not quite sure. Let’s go somewhere where there are less sleeping people," Olivia said.

___________________________________________________________________________

Zach and Ace were sorting information and making plans for interviews when Zach’s phone buzzed.

“Hey, someone left a tip on our website!” Zach said with elation.

“What does it say? What does it say!?” Ace questioned, equally excited.

“It says: ‘I think AZ is the bagel. I saw him on a ladder near an air vent near the room where the sleeping gas appeared,’ that’s really interesting, put AZ as the top priority to interview."

“Yes, I will," Ace said, with an excited smirk.

___________________________________________________________________________

Jo and Olivia were talking to Kera in the hallway before lunch was to begin.

“So you got gassed through an air vent?” Kera questioned, with intense interest.

“Just be glad it wasn’t poisonous gas,” Jo said with sarcasm.

“That would really suck a lot," Kera laughed. “This Bagel guy sure has been doing a lot lately, when they catch him it’ll be interesting."

“We’re trying to investigate what he’s doing. If you have any info, go to our website and leave an anonymous tip," Olivia said.

“The Bagel also might be more than one person, and we have tons of evidence for that claim,” Jo said.

“Maybe it’s, like, a name acronym. Like people put their names together. Maybe the Bagel is a group," Kera suggested.

“That could be true,” Jo said.


	5. The Final Few

Jo, Olivia, Ace, and Zach had just finished interviewing everyone. They were tallying the stories against each other and hadn’t quite come to a conclusion yet.

“AZ was talked about in an anonymous tip, but his story seems solid," Ace said.

“John’s story seems faulty, but he doesn’t seem like someone who would be capable of being the Bagel,” Zach said.

“And this Bob guy seems too nice, but his story has some holes,” Olivia said.

“We need to know what criteria are the most important,” Jo announced.

“Maybe their location during the first graffiti," Ace said.

“But what about the fourth, that one was quite an enigma,” Zach suggested.

Jo said, “Why not both. Those are both very important pieces,"

“Let’s do it,” said Olivia. “Let’s compare their answers for those two."

“AZ’s locations during the paintings look like a match and other people backed him up.” Ace explained.

“John’s first location seems unprovable, but he has an excellent alibi for the fourth painting," Zach described.

“Bob’s story seems faulty on both points,” Olivia said.

“Let’s take a vote,” Jo said. “Raise your hand if you think it is AZ?” No one raised their hands. He paused “Who thinks it is John?”

“I do,” Zach says.

“Who thinks it is Bob?” Jo asked. Jo, Olivia, and Ace all raised their hands. “What’ll it be, Zach?” Jo asked him.

“I think Bob might be the Bagel, but John’s story seems quite fuzzy," he paused for a moment, and raises his hand.

“So we’ve decided it’s Bob," Jo said.

___________________________________________________________________________

“I have very bad news,” Lacy said to the Bagel.

“What is it, your sanity?” he quipped.   


“NO! The Asinine Investigators have ‘decided’ that you are the Bagel!” she exclaimed.   


“I’m aware,” he said.

“And you’re not concerned? This could jeopardize our whole plan!” she said, panicked.

“Are you sure about that?” Bob said. “I knew someone was going to find out eventually. This is actually the best-case scenario for us."

“How so?” Lacy questioned.

“The people that would be trusted the least found out first,” Bob explained.

“Interesting,” Lacy said. “Anyway, do you have any other assignments?”

“You still haven’t finished the one I gave you yesterday,” Bob said.


	6. The Online War

“JO!” Zach yelled from across the house.

“What is it!?” Jo said.

“JUST GET OVER HERE!” Zach yelled, louder this time. Jo ran over, along with Ace.

“What happened?” Ace said.

“SOMEONE HACKED OUR WEBSITE!” Zach yelled.

“I’m right here, chill,” Jo said.

“Okay, look at this,” Zach said, calmer this time. The website was filled with dancing bagels and the ‘Contact’ and ‘Tip’ buttons were replaced with pictures of Barry B. Benson. The title was also replaced with ‘Asinine Investigators.’”

“That is some serious hacking,” Jo said. He pressed a couple of buttons on his phone and then the website went offline.

“How did you do that?” Ace asked.

“I made an app that controls the website from my phone," Jo explained.

“That’s interesting, you should send that to me," Zach said.

“BE QUIET!” Jo and Zach responded at the same time. After this, Jo’s phone blew up with notifications.

“What in tarnation is this?” Jo said. He looked on his phone. “GUYS! SOMEONE HACKED OUR TWITTER!”

“By someone, you mean Bob?” Olivia asked as she walked in.

“I think so,” Jo said as he vigorously deleted tweets and changed his password for the Twitter account.

“Did you change the password?” Ace asked.

“Yes. I did, and I suspended all sessions so no one can lazy load into my account," Jo responded.

“No idea what that means but okay," Ace said, confused.

“Okay, I traced the IP’s of the people who hacked the website…” Zach started.

“And they’re in South Africa!?” Zach and Jo said in unison.

“Jinx,” Zach said.

“Clearly they’re using a VPN. I can trace it but it will take a while," Jo said, as he left.

___________________________________________________________________________

“This is madness! We can’t let this person run amok through our school!” the principal said.

“I’ve done all I can to find out who it is. Talked to students, looked in cameras, put up a bounty, everything," the assistant principal replied.

“Based on what I’ve seen, some students seem to be looking for this ‘Bagel’ as well," the teacher on her right said.

“That isn’t any help though! We need to do something about this!” the principal said, clearly very tired.

“I guess we need to make some kind of plan," the assistant principal replied.

The principal sighed, “Meeting adjourned."

___________________________________________________________________________

“So, what did you find when you traced the VPN?” Olivia asked Jo impatiently.

“Another VPN,” Jo said with disappointment in his voice.

“WHAT?! WHO HAS TWO VPNS????” Zach yelled.

“Chill," Ace said to Zach.

“Have you finished fixing the website?” Jo asked Zach.

“Almost, except for one problem," Zach said. “The relay chat channel we used for anonymous tips is filled with spambots."

“Just make another one,” Olivia said.

“Yes, and put it on a different chat network so Bob can’t trace it," Jo continued.

“I’ve got a surprise for you all,” Olivia said.

“I’d be impressed with anything we could accomplish by this point," Ace laughed.

“I’ve prepared a counter-attack,” Olivia said with glee.

“How do you plan on counter-attacking a double-masked IP?!” Jo asked.

“I may not know what the IP is, but my system does. It’s just encrypted beyond belief. So I can simply call a system variable and send a DEDOS," Olivia rambled. “Which isn’t technically illegal because it’s a defensive DOS."

“That’s amazing, good job," Jo responded.

___________________________________________________________________________

“I’ve finished what you asked me to do, but there’s one problem," Lacy said.

“This is our moment of victory! What could possibly be an issue?!” Bob scoffed.

“They traced my computer! Even though I used 3 VPNs and an IP mask!” Lacy said, clearly stressed.

“No they didn’t! I redirected their signal from our computers to the school’s mainframe," Bob said, laughing.

“How did you do that?!” Lacy said.

“I won’t reveal my methods,” Bob said. “It’s time to begin Phase Five."

“Phase Five?! Already?” Lacy questioned.

“Yes. Get to work," Bob said harshly.

___________________________________________________________________________

“Have you finished fixing up the website and the channel?” Olivia said to Zach.

“Yes, but there’s one problem. The school website also opened an anonymous tip service. So no one is gonna use ours anymore," Zach said, disappointed.

Olivia responded, “We don’t even need that though. We can just investigate ourselves, and plus, remember the tip about AZ? That one was clearly added by The Bagel."

“I mean, it could be a useful tool,” Jo said as he came in. “Are you even listening to me?” he said as Olivia was looking at something on the highest shelf.

“Guys?” she said nervously. “We’re being wiretapped."

“How did they get a wiretap in the house?” Jo asked nervously.

“I don’t know…” Olivia responded. “Wait… why is there dust around here?”

“Why would there be dust around something that was placed by the Bagel? We only started the Bagel Investigators a week ago!” Zach said.

“This wasn’t placed by the Bagel…," Olivia started, but as she said that the wiretap exploded. “WHAT?”

“I guess whoever put that there knows they’ve been found," Ace said.

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Jo told him.

“That’s creepy,” Zach said.

“Let’s clean this mess up, guys!” Olivia said.


	7. The Prophecy

“I have started Phase Five, my Master. I have mobilized all of your troops against school authorities," Lacy said, triumphantly.

“Have you mobilized the Rosquilyouf-Milieuiof?” Bob said.

“I can’t pronounce it but yes I have,” Lacy said, sarcastically.

“Have you alerted the mercenaries from Belarus?” Bob continued.

“Yes. I knew learning Russian was a good idea," Lacy laughed.

“Great. And have you notified the rest of the Vuardaeuio?” Bob finished.

“Yes I have, my Master," Lacy laughed maniacally along with Bob.

___________________________________________________________________________

Back at the school, the whole place was in chaos. Sleeping gas filled several hallways, there were poisonous chemicals on the ground in several places, mercenaries fought with school security and blocked hallways. Several classrooms were in chaos or barricaded from the inside or the outside. Bob’s military divisions stood in marching lines outside of the school.

“WE SHALL TAKE CONTROL OF THE SCHOOL FROM THE STYIRANEUIOSAS!” Bob passionately declared. “THE GREAT ROSQUILYOUF-MILIEUIOF WILL RISE AGAIN!” A great, strong cheer was heard from his soldiers. “MARCH!” he ordered. The army marched towards the principal’s office, weapons in hand. 

“GIAF VEUOF REIX-ROSQUIL!” the soldiers chanted.

___________________________________________________________________________

“There is no way we are going in there," Ace said.

“I absolutely agree. It looks like Bob is putting into action some kind of hostile takeover plan," Jo responded.

“We should stay back and investigate,” Olivia advised. At this moment, a paper airplane flew in Olivia’s direction. “What the?”

“Who threw that?” Jo asked.

“No idea,” Olivia responded.

“Look, it has writing on it?” Zach asked, but was cut off by the sound of an explosion coming from the school.

“Quickly, duck behind here,” Kera said. She was hiding behind the wall perpendicular to the sidewalk under a bridge.

“Good idea," Ace said sarcastically. Jo, Olivia, and Zach followed him down.

“Read what it says on the airplane,” Jo suggested.

Olivia unfolded the airplane. She read aloud. “This is urgent information. I’m sorry I couldn’t reach you right as Bob began his scourge, but he’s kept me imprisoned until his crowning moment of glory. I can give you all the tools you need to defeat Bob, but I can’t take physical form unless you help me. Three ingredients are needed for the ritual. I need the power of the Purple Diamond Dust, which can be found on the island in the middle of the lake 20 miles to the northwest. I need the Elder Cherry Stick which is in the cave 26 miles due south. And lastly, I need the Golden Bagel that is in Bob’s safe at his house. After this, say the incantation…” She stuttered. “I can’t read that. But it’s an incantation."

“This is some seriously weird stuff…” Kera commented.

“Well we need to do it, it’s our only chance to stop Bob,” Jo responded. Another explosion drowned out the second half of his sentence.

“Well let’s find somewhere not here to do it," Zach said.

___________________________________________________________________________

“YOU LET HER OUT?!” Bob yelled with rage.

“I didn’t let her out, she just left and I couldn’t stop her,” Lacy said.

“LOCKDOWN SECURITY OF EVERY DIVISION,” Bob told his guards. “THAT MEANS YOU TOO, LACY." 

“Yes, my master. But I don’t see why she is so importan-” Lacy started to say.

“SHE’S IMPORTANT BECAUSE I SAY SHE’S IMPORTANT. I DON’T HAVE TO GIVE ANY MORE REASONS TO YOU,” Bob yelled.

“Yes, my master. I will get on top of it as soon as I can,” she replied.


	8. Race to Diamond Island

Jo, Zach, Ace, and Olivia were positioning two boats on the coast of the lake.

“Let’s go,” Jo said. Jo and Olivia got in the boat nearest them and it began to float out. Zach and Ace got in the other boat. Zach and Jo started rowing their boats. This continued for a good minute. 

“We still have a long way to go until we get to the island,” Zach said, disappointed.

“This will be fine, I took a canoeing class at summer camp," Jo quipped.

“Uh guys, I think we have a problem,” Olivia said as she looked back to the shore.

“What’s wrong?” Jo asked.

“WE’RE BEING FOLLOWED!” Olivia yelled. “There’s a big motorboat and two big canoes! I think I see Bob! Row faster!” Jo and Zach began to row faster.

“I’m rowing as fast as I can," Zach sighed. The sound of a moving motorboat could be heard.

“This is not good. How did they find us?” Ace questioned.

“They probably knew about the components and where we would look first,” Jo said. The water around the canoe Jo and Olivia were in began to fizz and bubble violently. “They’re throwing dishwasher detergent pods at us!” Their canoe began to shake. “Take the second pair of oars!” 

“I got them!” Olivia said. They both began to paddle much faster out of the fizzy water.

“The speedboat is gaining on you guys!” Ace warned them. He spotted something in the water below him that was moving. “Uh, Zach?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong?” Zach replied.

“There’s something swimming below us!” Ace warned.

“It’s probably a big fish. Don’t worry," Zach said.

“Guys, watch out!” Ace warned, louder. The speedboat was gaining ground on Jo and Olivia, fast.

“I got this,” Olivia said. With that, she put her oars back and jumped ship. She started swimming towards the speedboat. When she got near enough, she climbed up the side of the boat. When she got on top, she threw the person in the back over the side.

“I’ll drive this thing, you deal with her,” Bob said loudly to his bodyguard who was currently driving the ship.

The canoe Zach and Ace were on suddenly started taking on water. They too jumped ship, as Zach took up the second oars on Jo’s canoe while Ace held on, kicking his legs to propel the boat.

On the motorboat, Olivia grappled the bodyguard off the side and moved towards Bob.

“Euioy, roquianyouf!!” he cursed as he jumped over the side, seemingly disappearing.

“I got the boat, guys!” Olivia yelled down.

“Can you drive it?” Jo asked sarcastically.

“Yes, I can!” Olivia responded, equally sarcastically.

“We’re almost at the island!” Zach pointed out. 

Zach and Ace got off the canoe and onto the island, grabbed the Purple Diamond Dust that was on an altar, put it in a bag, and then got on the speedboat, hitching the canoe behind them. Jo stayed on the canoe but didn’t really need to row. After a while of this, Jo spoke up.

“Hey guys?” Jo asked.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?” Olivia responded.

“Those guys in the longboats are still after us, and they’re moving surprisingly fast!” he responded with increasing worry.

“That’s fine, we’re fast enough," Zach dismissed.

“I hope so,” Jo responded sarcastically.

“We’re moving in on the narrow river. We can stay on the speedboat but they will still be able to follow us," Olivia informed them. At this moment, a large wave came from the shores of the tiny island where the altar was and toppled the longboats.

“Thanks, whoever did that!” Jo yelled. The boat moved through the river to the end of the river.


	9. Cave Cataclysm

Zach and Ace were entering the strange cave precisely at the point that the strange letter had told them about. The entrance seemed to be decrepit and worn, as if it was not used for several decades. A dim light shone at the end of the visible path.

“Let’s do this,” Zach said.

“Why would there be a light at the end of an abandoned tunnel though?” Ace asked nervously.

“It’s probably another entrance. Let’s just go already," Zach said impatiently.

“Ugh, alright. Let’s go in with a flashlight," Ace suggested.

“Already got you covered,” Zach responded, holding a flashlight in his hand. Zach and Ace continued on the path for a good two minutes, but then Zach’s walkie-talkie turned on.

“Hey, hello is this thing on?” Jo’s distorted voice came through the speaker. “How is your guys’ mission going?”

“We’re just moving through this really long tunnel, but we haven’t gotten any problems yet,” Zach said.

“We’re in Kera’s car going to Bob’s house. We need to make sure one of the Bagel’s people finds out you’re going to the cave because just the three of us going in will be dead meat," Jo explained.

“Wait, I hear something," Ace whispered. “Turn off the walkie-talkie."

Zach did so, and said, “What did you hear?” After Zach said that, another sound was heard and a light flashed behind them.

“That’s definitely Bob," Ace commented. “Move faster!” They moved as fast as they could to the light ahead of them.

“Make sure they don’t get the chiariof-steaouf!” a voice in the distance commanded. Zach and Ace moved faster to escape.

“We’re almost here!” Ace said. They moved into the larger room and towards the large cherry-wood stick that was on a pedestal on the far side of the carved-out room. Zach grabbed the stick off of its pedestal.

“WE’VE GOT YOU CORNERED, ASININE INVESTIGATORS!” Bob yelled as he and all of his guards stormed into the room. The guards attempted to grab the stick and the two of them, but just as they all entered the room, the ground began to shake. Parts of the dry dirt floor crumbled, cracked, and then most of the floor gave way and dropped all of Bob’s guards. The only ones that were still holding on were Zach, Ace, and Bob, the latter two only hanging onto the side by one hand. Zach put down the stick and pulled up Ace from the side. Bob quickly began moving over to take his opportunity to grab the cherry stick, but then Zach pushed the pedestal over when Bob was directly under it and he fell down the trap, screaming:

“CURSE YOU, BAGEL INVESTIGATORS!”

___________________________________________________________________________

“This is very not good,” Bob said over the screen to the people at the school. “The Asinine Investigators have two of the three components needed to summon  _ her _ . We have to protect the Golden Bagel with our lives."

“We’ll notify all troops to return to base," Captain Lacy said.

“But you need to stay at the school and make sure the styranieuosas don’t retake the school. Keep the mercenaries there too. MAKE SURE NO ONE LEAVES," Bob continued to order.

“Yes, my master. I will make sure no one leaves," Lacy continued on.

“I’m aware that he is one of them, but you mustn't let ANY of them in, OR ELSE,” Bob said.

“Yes, my master," Lacy said sarcastically.

___________________________________________________________________________

“So you got the cherry stick?” Jo asked over the walkie-talkie.

“Yes, yes we did. And it’s really lucky too. The way that the ground gave way when Bob and all of his goons showed up, it was like a miracle, just like that wave at the lake," Zach said.

“Whoever built the room probably rigged it with a weight trap so that if too many people came in, it would fall,” Olivia said, bored. “It’s not a miracle, it’s just good design planning. Anyway, we’re still staking out the house and it looks like everyone is gone."

“We’ll be over there ASAP," Ace reassured.

“Agreed,” Zach said.

“This thing is out of batteries, so I’ll turn it off,” Jo said.


	10. The Final Component

“Let’s go in already,” Jo said.

“Alright, let’s do it,” Olivia said. Jo, Olivia, and Kera got out of the car and went to the house. They entered through the back door and found the safe.

“Blowtorch, please,” Kera said.

“Here, I got it,” Jo said. Kera began to make a circle around the safe lock.

“Crowbar,” Kera said.

“Here you go,” Olivia said, handing it to her. She pulled the semi-melted lock off and crowbarred the safe open. There was only one item in the safe, a golden bagel. Olivia grabbed it. “Let’s go."

“I agree, we need to get the heck outta here while Bob is still stuck in that cave," Jo said.

___________________________________________________________________________

“Did you really find it already? No one chased you down or anything?” Zach asked on the phone.

“Yes, really. I’m surprised too. You should follow the three of us to the rendezvous point we discussed," Jo said.

“Alright. Bye then," Zach said.

“See ya,” Jo said as he hung up. They drove down the highway until there were almost no cars left. This road look liked some kind of backwoods country road. A while later, another car turned onto the road.

“Hey look, it’s Zach and Ace,” Jo said as he looked out the back window.

“And it’s not just them,” Olivia said nervously, looking out of Kera’s rearview mirror. “WE’VE GOT COMPANY!”

“How many?” Kera asked.

“At least five, maybe more. Go faster!” Olivia said. Kera sped up the car.

___________________________________________________________________________

“I see the guys that are on our tail," Ace said. “We should speed up and follow Kera, she knows where she’s going," Zach complied and sped up the car. A pattering of small objects was heard on the back of the car.

“They’re shooting something at us!” Zach said.

“Yeah, I know!” Ace responded as he turned around to see what it was. “It’s some kind of sticky balls!”

“Why would they," Zach started but was interrupted by loud spraying on the back of the car. The rear view mirror was obscured with the liquid, then with a sickly brown froth. “What in tarnation!?” 

“That’s extremely creative and extremely weird at the same time," Ace said, nervously laughing.

“Who soda-bombs a car? That’s ridiculous," Zach joked.

___________________________________________________________________________

“Zach and Ace are down, I repeat, Zach and Ace are down!” Jo said.

“No, they aren’t. They can still see forward, which is all they really need," Olivia said.

“Plus, Ace and I know this road well enough to avoid the potholes,” Kera said.

“Wait, POTHOLES?” Jo said.

“Yes. Potholes, Jo, try to catch up," Kera laughed as she harshly swerved to the right and then back to the left. The car that Zach and Ace were in followed suit, even though they could barely see. “Don’t make me say I told you so."

“Okay, okay I get it, stop patronizing me,” Jo said sarcastically. The cars that were chasing them began piling up in the potholes.

“I told you so,” Kera said.

“Amazing. You really got it," Olivia said.

“We’re here! NOW GET OUT OF MY CAR!” Kera yelled.

“That escalated quickly," Olivia said.

“Okay, fine," Jo said sarcastically.

“Glad we got here in one piece,” Zach said.

“That was crazy, man. Who has the money or time to come up with crappy schemes like soda-bombing a car?” Ace ranted.

“May I remind you they’ll be here any moment?!” Olivia yelled. “Let’s just do the stupid ritual already!”

“Alright, let’s do it,” Jo said. Jo placed the Golden Bagel on the table under the deck. Olivia placed the Elder Cherry Stick on top of it, and Ace scattered the Purple Diamond Dust. Zach began to say the incantation.

“Eu Oiof Saiyouf Neiaieuof, Trexeouf neiaieuof yesya tresouf!” Zach said, slowly enunciating every word written on the folded piece of paper. Suddenly, light began emerging from the components, and then there was a blinding flash of light.

When the Investigators regained vision, they saw something very strange. The bagel was not as golden as before as was much more bagel-colored. The other two components were strangely missing, and weirdest of all, the bagel… had eyes? The bagel stood(?) up and jumped down onto the ground, and there was another, slightly less blinding flash of light. Standing where the bagel had stood, was a girl who had a long brown ponytail, with hair that was green in the front and brown in the back. Her skin was pale and her eyes were violently purple. “Hey what’s up, I’m Margerie!” she said as she appeared. She shook everyone’s hands and then spoke again. “Thanks for releasing me from that dreadful prison. Bob had me locked up in there for a good hundred years. It’s great to finally be free," She stretched her limbs vigorously.

“How did you… and what? One hundred years? But Bob is only, like, sixteen?!” Jo said, awestruck.

Margerie laughed. “Yeah, I get that a lot too. No, Bob and I are what are called rosquilites, an ancient race of shapeshifting bagel creatures. We live for thousands of years, and Bob is about four hundred years old."

“Okay, so Bob is not human? That explains a lot,” Ace said.

“Like what? What does that explain, Ace?” Margerie inquired.

“Uhh, well, how he could survive being crushed by a stone pillar and then falling down into a pit trap!” Ace said.

“Oh yeah, that weight trap I made back in the eighteenth century. That old thing actually worked?” Margerie reminisced.

“Yeah, it sure did. So how did you get trapped in the first place?” Zach said.

“Bob defeated me in a magical contest and trapped me in that stupid bagel,” Margerie said, noticeably depressed.

“Uh, guys? Enough chit chat, they’ve found us!” Olivia said. And indeed, ten of Bob’s grunts had opened the gate and run into the yard.

“It’s fine guys, I can deal with this,” Margerie said. She waved her hands dramatically, and the copious leaves scattered in the area began swirling into a tornado. She waved her hands again, and the tornado moved towards and picked up nine of the grunts. She moved it away from the deck, dropping people and picking up debris as it passed. The final grunt took out a pistol and moved his finger to the trigger, but Margerie was too fast for him. She put up her hands and a beam of golden energy emerged. The grunt got hit square in the chest and lurched back at incredible speed, crashing into and breaking the wall of the next house. “That felt good to do,” said Margerie, cracking her knuckles.

“That. Was. AMAZING!” Jo, Zach, and Ace said in unison.

“Alright, guys. I have a pl.." Margerie started, but Bob emerged behind where the grunt previously stood. He moved in, took one look at Margerie, and turned tail and ran. 

“That’s right! RUN!” Olivia chided.

“Coward!” Margerie yelled back at him. “Anyway, as I was saying before I was SO rudely interrupted, I have a plan."


	11. The Bestowing

“We’re going to do WHAT?!” Olivia inquired.

“We’re going to go to my pocket dimension and give all of you magical powers,” Margerie repeated.

“You’re joking, right. Tell me you’re joking," Olivia said.

“No, I am most certainly not joking," Margerie said, as she began to speak an incantation under her breath. A portal opened on the ground in front of where Margerie stood. “Follow me," She jumped into the portal.

“Are you sure about this?” Ace said.

“Of course I’m sure! WEEEE!” Jo said as he jumped in.

“I guess it would be cool," Olivia said. She followed suit and jumped in.

“Let’s go then," Zach said as he jumped in.

“This is gonna be crazy," Ace said to himself as he jumped in. As he did, the portal closed and there was no evidence that any of them were ever there.

___________________________________________________________________________

“WOAAAAAH!” Ace yelled as he moved through the portal. He landed hard and fast on the ground, and yet it did not hurt.

“What is this place?” Jo asked as he looked around the strangely ornate room around him.

“This is the power bestowing room. I have been waiting to do this for quite a while. There is a prophecy that involves me and 10 chosen ones. I know the four of you are four of them. Essentially, the prophecy says that I must give each chosen one a different power to help combat evil," Margerie explained.

“Okay, do you know who the rest of the chosen ones are?” Ace asked.

“I don’t know who they are, other than that they want to stop Bob and his cohorts. When I activate the ritual, each beam will find its target, even if it has to cross dimensions," Margerie said.

“Okay then, let’s get started," Jo said.

“Obviously, I thought I would have all ten before entering this room, but like I said, the bestowing beams can cross dimensions," Margerie continued. “Just… uhh… stand near these pillars," she pointed to four different pillars. Jo, Ace, Zach, and Olivia complied. She stood in the center and mentally readied herself. She started to slowly, and painstakingly speak the incantation, which at points sounded inhuman.

Once she had finished her incantation, a golden beam emerged from her raised hands, like the one she used against the vuardaeuio grunt before, but this time it seemed to move at a snail’s pace. After what seemed like forever of this, the beam suddenly and violently split into ten different beams, of many different colors. The green, yellow, blue, pink, cyan and silver energy beams went through different parts of the roof, but the other four moved diagonally down.

The purple-colored beam hit Jo, but he did not react like the grunt did to the golden beam. He felt his body taking in lots of energy, and then a warmth throughout his body. The orange-colored beam did the same thing to Olivia, as the red-colored beam to Ace, and the white-colored beam made its way over to Zach.

“Alright,” Margerie said, noticeably exhausted, “I’ve given out every power. Try and test your powers, now!”

“I don’t know what I can do…” Jo said, as he raised his hand and shot a purple beam at the roof. “Okay, that is officially extremely cool."

“I’m sure what I can do is much cooler," Ace said, as he pointed his hands down, and waited. Suddenly, fire shot out of his hands. “That is better than I expected."

Zach looked at his feet. “What does white do?” he said. He pointed his hands at the wall, and ice shot from his hands and at the wall. “Hell yeah! Ice!” he said.

Olivia was sceptical, but looking around was convinced. She pointed her hands at the ground. Nothing happened. “This didn’t give me any powers."

“I did give you powers. It just might not be a shooting power," Margerie said. “Try and reach in the depths of your soul."

“I don’t think it would work like that," Olivia said.

“JUST DO IT!” Margerie yelled.

“Okay, okay, jeez," she breathed in deeply. “Let’s do this," she stood for what seemed like an eternity, and then there was a flash of orange light. Olivia was gone, and where she stood, an orange cat.

“Oh my gosh, that is AMAZING!” Jo said.

“Animal transformations are obviously the coolest," Zach said.

“Yeah, I agree. That. Is. Awesome!!” Ace raved.

“I told you so," Margerie said. The cat stood up on its hind legs, and in another, dimmer flash of light, Olivia was back.

“That is extremely awesome and extremely trippy at the same time," Olivia said. “I love it!”

“Alright! Let’s go kick Bob’s butt!” Jo said.

“YEAH!” Zach and Margerie said simultaneously.

“Let’s go then," Olivia said. The five of them slowly walked out of the room, and back into the real world. When they emerged, it was very different. It was now winter and there was a light snow on the ground, where previously it was covered in leaves.

“Guys?” Jo asked. “How long have we been gone?”


	12. The Battle of Burnet High

“Just how long have we been gone?!” Jo repeated.

“Let me check my phone…” Olivia said. “Let’s see… It’s…. DECEMBER SIXTEENTH?!”

“How were we gone for an entire month, Margerie?!” Ace asked.

“Yes, I want to know that too, how WERE we gone so long?!” Olivia said.

“Well… If the portal to a pocket dimension is not constantly open, its time is not at all linked to the real world… so essentially we got lucky by only being gone a month," Margerie said.

“Well, since we’ve been gone so long, we have to get right over to the school and fight Bob!” Jo said.

“I agree. Let’s go," Zach said.

___________________________________________________________________________

When the Bagel Investigators arrived at the school they loved, it was drastically different. A barricade of destroyed husks of police cars blocked one entrance. There were barricades and craters of varying sizes everywhere.

“How did he redecorate so much in one month?” Olivia asked rhetorically.

“Shhh!” Jo said. “There are guards everywhere."

“We don’t have to run anymore, though! We have powers!” Ace said.

“Yes, but we still need a plan," Margerie warned. “And luckily, I have one. Jo, Ace, and Zach will move through the front entrance and clear a path to Bob. Olivia and I will transform and go into an air duct so we can flank them."

“You know those air ducts are tiny, right? There’s no way either of us will fit in there, let alone me," Olivia said.

“Well, you’re just gonna have to get used to being a cat, then," Margerie said, with a sarcastic smirk.

“Where exactly is Bob, anyway?” Ace asked.

“He’s probably in the auditorium, giving orders," Olivia said. “It’s the most central and strategic location."

“Alright. Let’s DO THIS," Jo said.

___________________________________________________________________________

Margerie and Olivia transformed and moved into the air duct, though not comfortably. Margerie led on a seemingly memorized path through the school. When they got to the end of their path, Olivia pawed the vent cover off and jumped through. Margerie followed suit, jumping down and instantly becoming human. Olivia took some time to transform back.

“That was awful. Let’s never do that again," Olivia joked.

“I hope so," Margerie responded. The movement of metal could be heard from around the hallway.

“What’s that?” Olivia asked quietly.

“I don’t know…” Margerie pondered.

___________________________________________________________________________

Jo, Zach and Ace were moving through the hallway, fighting Bob’s guards along the way. They had just finished defeating a few mercenaries.

“That was easy," Ace said.

“You can say that again," Jo responded.

“But remember, Bob has magic too, so we can’t be too cocky," Zach said. At this moment, an armored guard swooped from a hallway. Zach raised his arms and froze his feet solid. He could no longer move, and was blasted down by Jo and fell unconscious.

“I think this will be fine," Jo said, laughing.

“If you say so," Zach said, laughing quietly.

___________________________________________________________________________

“That doesn’t sound good," Olivia said, as the noise of metal got louder and louder.

“I agree," Margerie said. “Be careful…” as she was about to elaborate, someone in a strange metal suit of armor came around the corner 2 halls down and began to charge at them. Margerie, at reflex, raised her hands and blasted a golden beam of power at the armored fighter. It did not have the desired effect. While it did make contact, it only knocked the fighter back about 2 meters and they did not seem fazed at all. They resumed their charge towards Margerie and Olivia.

“Run, I’ll hold this person off!” Margerie ordered Olivia. Olivia jumped onto the ground in cat form, and ran to the other direction.

“Good luck with that," the armored fighter said. Margerie raised her hands once more and continued to fire. It became less and less effective, and eventually they made strides towards Margerie. The armored fighter reached towards where their back pocket would be, and grabbed a jar.

“NO!” Margerie yelled. The armored fighter opened the jar, and Margerie screamed as she was turned back into a bagel and sucked into the jar.

The armored fighter pulled up their face plate. “Get rekt, bagel girl," Lacy said, laughing maniacally. 


	13. The Flaw in the Plan

“Olivia?” Jo said as the cat walked behind him. The cat nodded. “What are you doing here? Nevermind," Olivia followed him.

“We’re more than halfway there," Ace said.

___________________________________________________________________________

“I’m back, and I have good news," Lacy said to Bob as she came onto the stage where Bob was sitting.

“What is your report, Captain?” Bob asked.

“I have gotten rid of the last active pocket of resistance against you. And I have a surprise for you!”

“What is it?”

She pulled out the jar that Margerie the bagel was in. “I captured her while she was trying to get to you."

“Excellent! Excellent! You may leave now." 

“Wow, really?”

“Just take Margerie with you, and your services are no longer needed." 

“Okay, but you probably need extra fighting strength."

“Sure, but go somewhere else.  _ He _ is coming."

“Oh, I’ll make myself useful elsewhere," Lacy ran off.

___________________________________________________________________________

Jo, Ace, Zach, and Olivia opened the double doors to the auditorium.

“Finally arrived, have you now?” Bob said from the opposite side of the auditorium, as if amplified by an invisible microphone.

“Your reign of terror is over, Bob! We will stop you!” Ace yelled.

“Are you sure about that?” A voice rang from the loudspeakers. John Cena’s face was projected on all the television screens.

“Very funny," Jo yelled across the room. Bob raised his hands and a golden beam flew across the auditorium. Zach and Ace dived right, while Jo with Olivia on his shoulder ran to the left.

“This is bad," Jo commented, as he continued running forward and the beam followed him. They dived under a folded lunch table. The beam caught up with them and then caught the table on fire. Meanwhile, Bob turned his gaze over to Zach and Ace, and sent a beam towards them, causing them to run in opposite directions. The beam followed Ace until he dived behind some theatre seats and blocked the attack.

“This is very not good.” Olivia said when she finished transforming back into a human.

“I agree," Jo said, looking at the one burning side of the table they were behind. “But we have to move at some point."

“Move… Now!” Olivia said as she watched Zach and the fire. They got up and ran behind a different table.

“You can’t run forever, Asinine Investigators!” Bob laughed maniacally as he sent golden beams of power in every direction.

“This is very bad," Ace said to himself.

___________________________________________________________________________

“Have you realized what you’ve done?!” Margerie telepathically spoke inside of Lacy’s mind.

Lacy quietly laughed. “I know exactly what I just did," she thought.

“Thanks to you, Bob will take over the whole school and the world."

“Get out of my head."

“Not until you release me!”

“I’m never gonna release you, bagel girl." 

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!!”

She laughed maniacally. “I can do whatever I want. You can’t do anything."

“What do you want? You must be smart enough to know that Bob taking over the school only benefits him!”

“I’m very aware of that, actually."

“What?! Then why are you still helping him?”

“Who said I’m still helping him?” Lacy thought, as she moved to and picked up another jar, very similar to the one she kept Margerie in.

“What? You have another one of those things?”

“Of course. Bob allowed it because he thought you might break one of them. Little did he know my true intentions."

“You’re going to trap Bob too?”

“I’m not going to do it. I’m going to let the Asinine Investigators do it for me."

“Why would you help them if all you’ve done is help Bob?”

“You’re in my head. You know why."

“But you… you wouldn’t… release me at once!”

“I can’t release you and frankly, you’re annoying. Plus, you know too much. Get out of my head," Lacy silently opened the locked cabinet and put the jar containing Margerie in it.

“NO!!!” Margerie telepathed towards her, but Lacy did not respond in any way.

___________________________________________________________________________

“How are we going to win this?” Jo asked.

“I suppose we have to outflank him," Olivia said.

“Yeah, and that worked so well last time," Jo responded sarcastically.

“Now is not the time for sarcasm! And sarcasm is totally my thing," Olivia said. “Okay, here’s the plan. I’ll transform and sneak around to the left. You get Zach and Ace and attack from the right."

“Alright. I got it," Jo said. Olivia transformed and Jo immediately ran the other direction. “Attack!!!” he yelled to Zach and Ace. They ran with him down the ramp. A golden beam followed them but at this point it was small and slow from overuse, and thus they were able to easily outrun it.

On the other side, the cat that was Olivia dodged under tables, chairs and other auditorium equipment that made up makeshift barricades. She was halfway towards the stage before the others were even a quarter way there. The guards were too distracted by Jo, Zach, and Ace to notice the cat darting between their feet. By the time the others began fighting guards on the left, Olivia was already on the stairs, waiting for a moment to strike.

As Jo, Zach, and Ace ran forth, they were eventually halted by five guards. Jo blasted one through the wall with a purple beam, then Ace’s fire knocked out another. “Go on without me!” Zach said, and the other two complied. Zach then raised his arms, and ice emerged from the floor. The guards lost their balance but were unable to fall because the ice was already up to their knees.

Jo and Ace got onto the stage just as this was happening. Zach quickly joined them to fight Bob. Bob got up and turned around.

“Finally decided to fight, have you?” Bob said, as he launched a beam at them with one hand. Jo raised his hands and the two beams met in midair and came to a stop. With his other hand, Bob lifted Ace into the air and threw him against the back curtain.

“Not this time!” Zach said, and sent a wave of ice spikes towards Bob. Bob jumped ten feet in the air, but didn’t come down. Instead, he simply hovered in the air. 

“HACKS!” Jo said, as he adjusted his hands as not to get blasted. Bob, however, did not see the cat that was sneaking up on him.

Ace shook himself up, but then something hard fell on his shoulder. It was a jar with a label that said ‘MAGIC SUCK JAR.’ He got up and started to stealthily and slowly move towards Bob.

As Bob’s golden beam slowly gained ground on Jo’s purple beam, everything seemed hopeless. Until suddenly, out of nowhere, a student popped up from under a seat and shot a slingshot pellet at Bob. He faltered in air, but did not fall. But then, the purple beam caught up with Bob’s and hit him square in the chest. Bob sank like a rock to the ground. At that very moment, Olivia transformed into a human and grabbed Bob from behind around his neck.

“You’ll…. Never…. DEFEAT… ME!” Bob said as he struggled for air.

“I got this!” Ace yelled, and pulled out the jar. He twisted it, opened it, and pointed the opening towards Bob. Then, many things happened at once.

There was a flash of golden light, and Olivia was thrown off of Bob and onto the front to the stage. Bob then turned into a bagel and was pulled towards the opening of the jar. It pulled, and he resisted. He resisted as much as he could. And it looked like he was about to escape, but then Ace ran forward and it was too much for Bob to handle, and Bob was sucked into the jar. Ace shut the jar as quickly as he could, and turned it over, and pushed the lid into the ground.

“We got him!” Zach said.

“Man, my back is killing me. But we did get him!” Ace said.

“We did it!” Jo said.

“Did we…” Olivia said, as she rolled off the stage. She fell down four feet. “Oww! THAT HURT!” then Olivia laughed.

“At least you didn’t get thrown against a wall," Ace yelled down, and then he started laughing too.

___________________________________________________________________________

The faculty and students had returned to the school in two weeks after The Bagel was defeated. The Bagel Investigators had become an official club, and were given a room to meet in at the school.

“Man, it sure is good to be heroes," Olivia said.

“And all we had to do was put a bagel in a jar!” Ace joked. “Well, actually, I did that," Everyone else laughed.

“Remember that wave? That was some serious luck," Zach said.

“Also, who put that jar there and why?” Olivia said.

“Well, I mean, I don’t know the answers to those questions. But I do know something," Jo said.

“What do you know?” Ace asked.

“We’re Bagel Investigators!” Jo said as he pumped his fist in the air.

“Yeah!” Olivia, Ace, and Zach said at the same time.

“Jinx!” Zach said. Everyone, including Zach, started laughing.


End file.
